Oppo Vs Esoteric

Oppo vs Esoteric ... I mean, it’s just not a fair fight.  

Oppo is an awesome piece of kit for a guy with a limited budget of $1300 for an All in One player.
But it is the Master of None, and the Esoteric of course is the Master on One.

You answered your own question with the original post!

@in_shore Ya the Modwright Oppo is the exception to Oppo gear. That mod has made a mark for itself for sure.

The Esoteric/Marantz/Luxman mentioned above are a good 3-4 levels above that of the Oppo. Now, having said that, the Oppo is best bang for buck, and the E/M/Ls are end-game sources/players, such that there is a point of diminishing returns. We all have our own personal threshold here in regards to how much we are willing to spend and point of our ROI or no ROI. the Gear you mention costs 6x the cost of the Oppo: go to the bottom of this page and see the horizontal row of CDPs/DACs-I think you mentioned them all: https://www.musicdirect.com/dac/esoteric-k-07x-sacdcd-player-dac

That said, you will get about 3x the cleanliness, transparency, dynamics, that you will get from the Oppo. B/c these other 3 will have better "Clocks" etc. But of course each of the EML manufacturers may impart their own sonic influence on the final product, but the actual electronic signal will be much cleaner with more power to reveal those details and nuances in the music (as well as thundering bass, or a delicate top end, micro & macro dynamics improved etc). Others may argue. But just read a couple reviews of the EMLs above, and look at the power supplies and higher quality circuitry.

When we get down to the brass tacks so to speak of higher-end audio, IMO the quality of the power source in particular makes huge differences in what you can - or cannot - hear from a recording. The Oppo may even have 2 small power supplies that they tout allows huge gains in AV quality. But compared to what? a multi disc player at Walmart for $59. Remember that the Oppo is a multitasker that is trying to juggle a lot of sh*t at once: Audio, Video, multiple Digital and analog ins and outs, etc. So spreading out that limited and limited QUALITY  power to all those different functions will sap the energy that o/w could be dedicated to JUST receiving the digital signal (CD to signal), or JUST sending the digital signal out the back to a DAC, e.g. ....

My last point is that of your Source .... sh*t runs downhill (sorry, I was raised by Rednecks) ...
From the Source onward the quality of your signal will only degrade, not get better. I mean, it may sound Different b/c the PreAmp or the Amp or speaker imparts its own sound qualities onto the final sound, but the clarity, black background, etc will not improve. IMO the Oppo would not have the cleanest digital signal transferred, but the EMLs would, and would make a great sources for life, since they have digital ins as well.

@in_shore Diminishing returns has everything to do with bang for buck and ROI/return on investment, unless you are talking about something else, which you are, so there was no reason to say that it has "absolutely nothing" to do with diminishing returns.

OP, I rarely buy any new high end audiophile gear unless it is a great piece. So if @mdp632 says some new Esoteric models are coming out, I would suggest seriously considering a used X05,x07, etc. the used price probably be about %60 of MSRP.

Remember, these units at $6k are build to last a lifetime. You could pick one up for $3500 and try it out, even do your own side by side comparison with the Oppo. If you did not like the Esoteric (tho I dont know why), you could sell it for about the same price you paid for it b/c the price will not drop right away after the new model comes out. In any case, this is what i would do.

Someone suggested accessories to lower the distortion of the Oppo using, eg put anti resonance under the power supply. When i had an Oppo, I did this. it helped. But still, compared to the Esoteric, etc, it is like putting lipstick on a pig.
After the lipstick is applied, do you still want to kiss her?